Bishen Singh Bedi blames cricketers for cricket's current crisis

Bishen Singh Bedi (file photo) with Kirti Azad in the background

Former India captain Bishen Singh Bedi has lashed out on current cricketers for not respective the game.

“It is the player who have caused havoc in world cricket, if not Indian cricket. Ball tampering was brought in by players. They used bottle top, grease stuff and thereby took undue advantage. That’s why the ball is given to umpires these days after a wicket is taken,” he said.

Bedi also termed the ‘doosra’ as illegal. “What do you call another man in a woman’s life, who has already got a husband. Doosra! Is it legal? Then how can ‘doosra’ be legal on the field?” said the veteran.

The ‘doosra’ has always been a controversial subject with many players terming it as illegal, some even comparing its balling action to chucking.

Talking about the cash rich Indian Premier League, which he has always criticised, Bedi said: “I feel strongly that IPL is doing a lot of harm to the youth of the country. It makes the youth realise their saturation point too soon.”

Commenting on the recent issues of players not walking off the field, he said: “Umpires are human too and cricket compels one to make a mistake. Cricketers have to be blamed. If you think you have made a mistake, leave.”

He even took a dig at the BCCI for the Indian board’s opposition to the Umpire Decision Referral System (UDRS). The BCCI have been against the UDRS citing that the system is not 100 percent correct.

“There is nothing that is 100 per cent in cricket. You don’t know whether you’ll hit a century that day on the pitch. When there is no 100 per cent in cricket, how can you expect 100 per cent in a technology used for cricket,” Bedi said.

source: ndtv